Hope you enjoyed your break from labor this past 3-day weekend. I was home in Oakland suffering through 100-degree temperatures, which is unheard of because that’s an all-time high. On top of that, no a/c. No bueno. Well, I survived to send you a few links this month. As always, feedback is appreciated.

Happy reading!

Read

It’s 2011 and Samuel Andresen-Anderson hasn’t seen his mother, Faye, in decades—not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now she’s reappeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news and inflames a politically divided country. To save her, Samuel will have to embark on his own journey, uncovering long-buried secrets about the woman he thought he knew, secrets that stretch across generations and have their origin all the way back in Norway.

What grabbed me was the story structure. It combines different storytelling devices (like a “Choose Your Own Narrative”), spanning generations and character arcs to tell a compelling story that is really innovative. Plus it made me nerd out on the 1968 Chicago riots and Allen Ginsberg.

Skim

There are many White House replicas around the world. None are more gaudy, ambitious and infamous than the former Louisana governor’s house built by Governor Huey Long. Today, the house still stands but has remained vacant since 1961.

There are a lot of people in Los Angeles who are celebrities just for being well-known. Think Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. Way before them, there was Angelyne, known for her blonde bombshell looks and her pink bubble gum Corvette. The car had such a presence in the Valley when I grew up, that I met her once and she signed my arm… with a sharpie.

Alexis Ohanian is back at Reddit and excited to pick up where he left off. As he starts this new chapter, he’s looking back at the things he didn’t do that made all the difference.

Dive past the bolded titles on the surface, and into the answers. That's where you’ll find real gold. Alexis gives real examples over the past ten years that shape him into who he is today. I love the bit about his New York press tour.

Success is supposed to come to the suave schmoozers. But accomplishing great things helps you make connections, too. Action and creation bring about stronger connections than trying to go after the network first.

Watch

My latest YouTube obsession is Vox’s Earworm. Each week they dissect a seemingly innocuous part of a song or trend in music by going back in time to how it all started. And on top a fascinating video, you can rock out afterward to Spotify playlists they create around the episode.